Fan Letters: “On Monday night, let’s invoke the spirit of Stokoe, Clough, and 1973!”

On Monday evening, I sat down to watch Watford, with Chakvetadze and Louza, who’d dominated our midfield for most of the match against us last Saturday, attempt to take a point or an unlikely win against the future champions, but how wrong I was, with a Dan James-led team battering them.

Next Monday, we play Leeds United at Elland Road with the prospect of a heavy defeat. However, I then thought about invoking the ‘Spirit of ‘73’, and the rivalry between ourselves and ‘Dirty Leeds’.

The story starts at Villa Park on March 26, 1955, when Sunderland lost an FA Cup semi-final to a Don Revie-inspired Manchester City, thus preventing what would’ve been the only FA Cup final between ourselves and Newcastle United.

Just over twelve months later, Revie signed for us for £24,000 from City; twelve months later, he fell out with manager Alan Brown and signed for a financially bankrupt Leeds United for £14,000.

Revie then set about revitalising Leeds, first by signing Bobby Collins from Everton — one of the dirtiest players I’ve ever seen.

Collins then schooled Johnny Giles in the ‘Dark Arts’ and Giles passed with honours, before Collins, Giles and Billy Bremner created a very cynical style of football, of which Revie was the mastermind.

In 1962, Revie, who wanted to win at all costs, approached a certain Bob Stokoe (then the manager of Bury) with a bribe to throw the match for Leeds to avoid being relegated. Rebuffed by Stokoe, Revie then approached the Bury players.

The 1963/1964 season saw Leeds and Sunderland fighting each other violently for promotion. Both teams succeeded, but were well and truly scarred by the experience, and the previous season had seen Collins crudely tackle our top scorer Willie McPheat, ending his career.

In three famous cup ties in 1967, Bobby Kerr had his leg broken and Leeds saw a record crowd at Elland Road, which still stands at 57,892.

The third replay at Hull ended 2-1 in Leeds’ favour after George Herd and George Mulhall had been sent off.

Three minutes from time, Jimmy Greenhoff was five yards outside the box. Cec Irwin was said to have fouled him and Giles scored the winning goal from the penalty spot. Strong claims were made that Revie had ‘got at the referee’ before the game!

On Saturday 5 May 1973, the cup final gave me my best ever Sunderland experience, seeing the Lads beat the favourites 1-0. Managed by Stokoe (with memories of the Bury approach and Kerr with memories of his broken leg), revenge for Sunderland was indeed very sweet!

In 1974, one of our greatest ever scorers in Brian Clough was appointed Leeds manager — well aware of the Stokoe bribe and the history between the clubs.

Cloughie also scored his first and only First Division goal against Leeds on 25 August 1962 before having to retire due to injury a week or two later.

Soon after his appointment, he made his famous speech to all the Leeds players, saying they should ‘throw all their medals and awards in the bin since they were achieved by cheating!’.

This resonates and was brought to life in David Peace’s excellent film The Damned United and forty four days later, Clough was sacked.

On 13 September 2006, in only his second game as Sunderland manager, I saw Leeds supporters trying to assault Roy Keane in the dugout. They were protesting against Keane’s tackle on Erling Haaland’s father Alf-Inge, but we trounced Leeds 3-0 that day!

The final Leeds/Sunderland link for me happened on 4 October last year, when the spirit of Stokoe and Clough conspired from on high in the last minute to get goalkeeper Illan Meslier to throw the ball into his own net!

Bring on Monday 17 February, and let’s invoke the ‘Spirit of Stokoe, Clough and 1973’!

Colin Ions

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Colin. Thank you for your letter and for sharing your memories of Sunderland/Leeds encounters from over the years! There are certainly some iconic names and moments bound up in the history between these two clubs, without a doubt.

In my opinion, this is the biggest game in the Championship; a genuine heavyweight clash between two immensely well-supported sides with long, storied histories. Both teams have quality all over the park and it’s right that we’re both eyeing promotion to the Premier League.

To that end, I’m not at all surprised that Sky Sports have chosen it for a Monday night broadcast, and if it’s anything like the game at the Stadium of Light earlier in the season, we should be in for a treat!

Let’s hope we can go toe to toe with Daniel Farke’s side, play as we know we can, and take something from what’ll be the toughest game of the season, by far.

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Dear Roker Report,

I’d like to address a couple of issues.

Everybody is being very ‘doom and gloom’ about things and our lack of a killer punch, but let’s not forget that we’re missing our two left wingers, leading to a complete imbalance in the way we play.

Enzo Le Fée is doing a great job but his real skills are through the middle. Will it be too late for the top two by the time Romaine Mundle and Tommy Watson are back? Only time will tell.

If it is, the playoffs don’t scare me as we play our best when our backs are against the wall.

I’d also like to discuss Patrick Roberts.

I actually like the lad but that doesn’t mean he deserves an automatic starting place. There’s rarely been an end product from him this season, nor was there one last season.

Also, it wasn’t an accident that he signed for us when we were in the third level of the pyramid. Is it an attitude problem, a skills problem or a confidence problem?

Whatever it is, I hope he gets back to where he was two seasons ago.

Steve Poolton

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Steve. Thank you for getting in touch.

The point you raise about the absences of Romaine Mundle and Tommy Watson is very valid, as they’re two excellent players and we’ve had to adapt our style of play since they’ve been unavailable.

Although I did feel that we were onto something with a 4-4-2 featuring Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor up top, Enzo Le Fée has been such a good addition and like you, I’m eager to see how he goes once he’s moved to a more central position.

On Patrick Roberts’ form, I thought he played very well against Luton in midweek and was unlucky not to cap off his performance with a goal.

That said, I agree that his form hasn’t been brilliant recently, and it does seem to me that he’s a little low on confidence. I do expect Régis Le Bris to stick with him, though, and perhaps his display against Luton can give him something to build on for the games to come.

Let’s hope it does!

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Dear Roker Report,

Thanks for paying some attention my prolonged focus on the rights and wrongs of playing right-footed players on the left and vice versa. I suppose that basically I’m suggesting that it’s possibly not allowing two talented young players to feel as comfortable as they would like and to influence games as much as they can.

I’m sure we’d both agree that in recent weeks and maybe months, the team hasn’t been functioning as well as it did earlier in the season. Perhaps we should consider giving credit to our opponents.

I’m sure the fact that the likes of Roberts, Jobe and Rig are playing on what I would call the wrong side of the pitch is an intrinsic part of the preparation made by opposing coaches and managers.

However, I also think there could be an attitude issue when it comes to playing ‘lesser’ opponents. Why else do we play well against the likes of Burnley and Sheffield United, but were so disappointing against Plymouth and Watford?

Let’s hope we perform well against Luton and reboot for Leeds. Put four or five young lads, or more together in a team of eleven and you’ve got a lot of inexperience and may I suggest over confidence?

Alan Jackson

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Alan. Thank you for your letter.

I’m writing this in the aftermath of our solid, efficient victory over Luton Town — a win that was certainly needed and ensures that we’ll head to Leeds in a positive frame of mind.

It could’ve been a tricky game against the Hatters but I thought they were absolutely atrocious and Sunderland were able to see them off with ease — aided and abetted by two smart goals, it must be said.

When it comes to our issues with playing the Championship’s lesser sides, I do think there’s an interesting debate to be had, because it seems that we occasionally hit a mental block (particularly at home) when it comes to sides we’d be targeting victory over.

Against Plymouth, I felt we were too timid and nervous, whereas Watford hit us with a little bit of power and aggression and we struggled to deal with that, so perhaps in recent weeks, we’ve lapsed into a ‘safety first’ mode instead of really going for it.

We all know that adaptability is key to a promotion campaign, and I do think we perhaps lack a little bit in that department, which is why it was a relief that we were able to see off Luton without any nervy moments late in the game!

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